Breathless
by Salazar Marvolo
Summary: Ichigo gets injured by a group of Yakuza, he stumbles into a familiar humble, sexy shopkeeper. Day 2 of UraIchi Week 2019: First Meetings. Part of the Beastverse. Can be read independently!


**Part of UraIchi Week 2019, Day 2 Prompt: First Meetings. **

**A/N: I hope you like this little piece! It's part of the Beastverse and can be seen as a Prequel to that. Can be read independently tho! Check out my Profile for more Info.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything. **

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Ichigo was running down the street, he was pretty certain the Yakuza which had been following him had given up on the chase about three blogs over but…one couldn't be too sure.

He didn't want them to follow him home. It was bad enough when they showed up at his school. He couldn't risk Yuzu and Karin getting caught up in any of this. He took another sharp right turn and stumbled into a side alley.

He stemmed his hands onto his knees while he took several deep breaths, sweat and blood dripped down onto the concrete at his feet, pants spilling from his lips.

"…'re they gone?" He asked himself, casting a look at the entrance to the alley.

"My, my." A voice spoke up behind him.

"Wahh!" Ichigo yelled, jumping several feet.

He whirled around and came face to face with a very strange man.

He was wearing a striped hat and dark green Hakama, in his own hand he was waving a paper fan while the other was clutching a cane.

The most suspicious thing about him however were his eyes which seemed to vanish into the shadow of his hat. Shadows which seemed to span over half his face, making it outright impossible to tell what he looked like from his nose upwards.

"No need to be so jumpy~!" The stranger said, a bright grin on his face.

"Who the hell are you?" Ichigo ground out. The blood dripping down his brow was slowly seeping into his eye, making it harder to keep looking at him.

"Tch." Ichigo averted his gaze and wiped the blood away.

"Hmm…this looks quite nasty. Why don't you come with me to my shop and I fix you up?" The stranger asked.

Ichigo gave him his most deadpan stare.

"Wow, is that your scheme? How about 'Why don't you get in my van, I got a lot of yummy sweets for you in there?'" He asked, sarcasm dripping from every word.

"Ahh, you wound me. Do I really look like such a suspicious person?"

"Yes." Ichigo didn't even have to think about his answer.

Another hiss left him as the stab wound in his upper thigh kept oozing blood onto the floor.

"…How about you stay here, and I get my first aid kit?" The stranger asked, there seemed to be genuine concern in his voice now. The infuriating smile finally gone.

Ichigo weighed his option. He could go home and hope that everybody was still out while he nicked some bandages from the clinic, he didn't want Yuzu or Karin or even his old man to see him like that. The other option was to let the strange guy grab his first aid kit and let him help.

Ichigo sighed softly.

"Alright, I'll just…wait here."

The stranger seemed to perk up at his words. Ichigo averted his eyes for a second, letting them drift towards the wounds he had received in the fight. One rather large problem was the stab wound in his upper thich, still oozing blood and not seeming to let up even slightly. When he lifted his gaze once again, the stranger was gone.

"Weirdo…" Ichigo mumbled under his breath.

A hiss to his right made him whip around. A black cat with startling yellow eyes was inspecting him critically.

Wait…inspecting…? A cat? He must've hit his head somewhere.

With a low groan he slowly slid down the wall. Shit, those guys had gotten him good this time.

He startled as he felt something brush against his leg. Lifting his head quickly he saw the same cat soothingly rub against his uninjured leg.

Ichigo huffed a laugh. He slowly reached out and let the cat sniff his hand before running it through its soft black fur.

"Pretty kitty…" He mumbled quietly, a smile tugging at his lips. The cat started purring at his words.

"You know, kitty cat," Ichigo spoke quietly. "I really wish those guys would leave me alone. Bunch of assholes…They keep on threatening the shopkeepers on the main street you know. Racketeering bastards."

He wondered why he spoke to it at all, maybe it was because he had nobody else to talk to in his life. It wasn't like he had many friends besides Tatsuki and even her he couldn't tell everything for fear of her going to the authorities. Not even to speak about his old man. Isshin had taken Masaki's death badly, he might tell Ichigo that the boy had had no fault in his mother's death. But…actions spoke louder than words. And the way his father had treated him for the last few years.

His father didn't care, and he didn't want to involve his sisters in any of it.

Concentrating somehow got harder the longer he did it, his head was already hurting badly and he his vision kept swimming out of focus.

Not knowing what else to do he started talking to the cat once more-

"And I can't just let them roam free…around here, can I? So, I pick fights with them and distract them, and they'll get so busy chasing me they forget all about their blackmailing schemes…but this time I really did it, didn't I? Drug heist of all things…Guess I'm really a delinquent now…Ohh well…"

The cat was watching him, it had stopped purring but was butting its head against Ichigos hand ever so often, either to get him back to scratching its head or as a sort of improvised cheering up.

"Hey…keep my secret, will you?" Ichigo asked it softly, running a hand down its head. "Thanks…for listening to me…kitty cat…" His words were starting to slur pretty badly now, and he could see the beginnings of darkness threatening the edges of his vision.

The last thing he thought he saw was a billow of smoke and a dark-skinned lady walking towards him where the cat had been not a second ago.

.

.

.

He awoke in his bed; the sky was already darkening outside. Slowly he sat up and stared down at himself.

His body wasn't aching like it should. The guys had done a number on him – Ichigo knew. He'd had less serious injuries and had felt worse than he was right now.

From the wounds he sustained he should be feeling like a train had run him over several times, yet he felt normal. Almost like he hadn't gotten a single scratch in the fight.

Perplexed he got up and pulled down his trousers, inspecting his thigh where the stab should have been.

Nothing.

Unblemished skin was staring back at him.

Had it been a dream? It must have been. There was no way in hell that an injury like that could heal in the span of a day.

His brows furrowed.

He quickly grabbed his phone and checked the time and date.

No…it was the same day. Not even 3 hours since he allegedly got into a fight with the resident Yakuza group – definitely not enough time for the wound to heal and just vanish like it had.

With an exasperated sigh Ichigo let himself fall back into his bed.

He would have to try and solve the mystery on another day.

He never did. Forgetting all about the strange man and the black cat until a day much, much later in the future.

.

.

.

„There, there. We've finally found you. You're looking pretty rough." A man wearing a green stripped hat and a dark green hakama stepped between Ichigo and the Mod-Soul which had been causing him and Rukia all sorts of troubles the entire day.

And Ichigo…Ichigo knew the man. There was no mistaking his eccentric outfit and accessories.

Without any further words the man lifted his cane and ran it straight through Ichigos body. The Mod-Soul Pill plopped out of him and slowly rolled over the ground. With one fluid motion the man bend down and grabbed the pill.

"What…?" Ichigo asked shocked, staring at the strange guy. He only just noticed that he seemed to have a group of other people with him. A tall man with braids, and two small kids.

With the same infuriatingly happy smile, which he had worn almost two years ago, he turned towards them, waving a paper fan as he did. "So, that's that. Let's go home, everybody!"

Those words kickstarted Ichigos brain into gear once more. "Wait a second! What are you going to do with him?"

The man turned towards Ichigo, giving him his undivided attention for the first time. He looked the same as he had two years ago. Truly it seemed like time didn't pass by this man at all.

"Hmm? Getting rid of him of course!" The man answered carelessly tossing the pill up and down.

"Wait…you can see me? Who…who are you?" Ichigo asked, staring at him with wide eyes; foregoing the words the man had spoke in the face of his own perplexity at the situation. He knew this man…had met him before, yet he had no idea that the other could also see spirits.

"Hmm ~ I wonder how to answer that question…" The man said, grabbing his hat with the other hand while continuing to play with the Mod-Soul.

"A money-hungry merchant." Rukia piped up, snatching the Mod-Soul from Kisukes hand.

"Wait a second, Kuchiki-san! You can't just take it! It's damaged goods!"

"Ohh really? Since when do you take paid for products from your costumers Urahara? And I don't want a refund, I'm quite happy with the product, thank you."

"…Are you quite sure? If it makes trouble, we will pretend to have neither seen nor heard anything and we will not intervene."

"Quite sure." Rukia said, dropping the pill into Ichigos hands.

"Thank you…" Ichigo mumbled quietly, eyes fixated onto the Mod-Soul.

When he lifted his gaze once again the strange man and his companions were gone.

"Who was that?" He asked, turning towards Rukia.

"Ohh? His name is Urahara Kisuke."


End file.
